The 'Positive Mental Health' Corona virus thread

[RapidRainbow]

There are a lot of posts of people worrying. I thought it could be helpful to share positive and assuring information in one thread.

For me, the most reassuring thing so far is the fact that of approx. 1500 people in the UK suspected to have and tested for CV have come back as negative.

This thread is great - thank you. I'm on the other ones too but they really are making me very anxious.

To those who asked about swine flu - I do remember it and we each got given hand sanitisers at work. One person in the office did get it. I don't remember being as worried. I think it is a lot to do with the internet, as @DobbyTheHouseElk has already said. We are just online more, aren't we? I mean I had a phone then, but it wasn't a smart phone.

I'm grateful for this thread, thank you. I'm normally fairly philosophical but as a diabetic and knowing it can affect the kidneys, I was getting slightly twitchy.

I always find that getting out and about and being active makes me feel a lot more positive in general. I dodged the showers this morning and clocked up 4.2 miles on my walk tracker app while I listened to a funny/interesting podcast about neanderthals.

I have just spent £3 on an app which tracks your walking and takes you on a virtual journey along the Appalachian Trail. Total distance is 2,200 miles so that should keep me out of trouble for a while...

Also just saw something interesting on Twitter. Martin Lewis - the money saving guy - does a daily poll. Today he's asking who's stockpiling for a corona virus epidemic.

86% of over 20,000 people have responded saying it hasn't crossed their mind. So I think Mumsnet with all its anxious panic merchants is very far from what most people are thinking.

So agree with you about getting out, Pineapple. Always makes me feel better to have a walk even if I don't want to!!

Any other over 60 years old people here? What are you doing about the advice to avoid crowded places? ATM I'm not avoiding supermarket/shops locally but I don' think I'd go jaunting off to London or other places by public transport just for pleasure.

@TwoleftUggs, thankyou so much for that - I've read, inwardly digested and saved it. It makes so much sense.

Now if I could just disable bloody Upday on my mobile...

The irony of me c&p a post from twitter, telling people not to read twitter has not been lost on me btw But I’m glad it helped some of you. It definitely helped me. So far today, I have stayed away..

magimedi
Any other over 60 years old people here? What are you doing about the advice to avoid crowded places? ATM I'm not avoiding supermarket/shops locally but I don' think I'd go jaunting off to London or other places by public transport just for pleasure.

I am well over sixty, but I may not be typical because I avoid public transport if I can anyway. I wasn't unhappy about going shopping yesterday, though -- covid-19 didn't even cross my mind until I saw two cashiers in face-masks.

Bump.

I think it might be helpful to keep this thread on the first page. I haven't commented as yet, but I do find it reassuring reading.

I remember swine flu very well. I worked myself into such a state of anxiety that I could barely leave the house. I was very ill with my general anxiety around that time and the news and the panic and the scaremongering just made me a thousand times worse. I am trying to keep things in perspective this time. Not altogether successfully I have to admit!

Thank you for this thread. Since becoming a sahm I feel totally overwhelmed by things out of my control (I even made a brexit stockpile) and have been making lists of things to buy in the event of a lock down situation. This escalated Friday when I went to eight shops to get hand sanitizer. My husband is very matter of fact and thinks I'm bonkers. I'm trying really hard to come away from the internet to avoid hysteria, but this thread has been reassuring.
My niece is a nurse and she said she wishes they would publish the amount of people who get normal flu and die from that alongside the coronavirus numbers to give people some perspective.

My husband is very matter of fact and thinks I'm bonkers

So does mine I am on the verge of cancelling our travel plans (within the UK) and he thinks I am ridiculous, as did most people who posted on my thread!!

My family think I'm bonkers too! DD1 and DD2 are going to a concert this Friday at a large arena venue. I feel uncomfortable now about them going - I can't print their response to my concerns!!

I’m finding this thread really helpful. Thank you, TwoLeftUggs as your post really helped, especially the bit about it being slow moving - I need to stop obsessively checking the news.

I started innocently enough, back in January, charting the statistics quite dispassionately because I love graphs and charts and because I was seeing something different to what the media were saying at the time. But as time’s gone on it’s turned into an obsession. I found graphs on worldometer and after the initial excitement that they matched mine, couldn’t stop checking them and analysing them. I’ve been reading every thread on here, every news item, googling obsessively.

Anyway, I got to the point last night and this morning that I was almost in tears with panic. I’m almost beyond functioning. Even DH, who is always supportive of me and was initially fascinated by my statistical analysis, clearly thinks I'm blowing it out of all proportion now. I need to step back, because whatever happens, the nights spent awake worrying and the constant racing heart certainly isn’t doing me any good.

If I have to check stuff, I’m going to try to direct myself to here instead.

Think I need to check in here, any sniffles ( and I have had a big standard winter cold along with everyone else I know) has caused a melt down. I was literally shaking with anxiety and have literally done NOTHING all day except watch the news and google, doing me no good at all. My husband has had enough of it and my two married daughters have told me not to ring them again if I am just going to talk about the virus and how anxious I am about it. Yet when I look our of the window everybody seems to be getting on with their lives.

How are you all coping with getting on with it here and switching off as much ad you can?

I did watch the WHO update and found some positives in that but then looked at the threads and papers and felt just doom again, could do with some positive vibes.

Thankyou for this thread. I really genuinely feel better about the whole thing after reading it. You've done a good thing OP!
Actually got to point I was quite rude to someone who was near my child witj
rt the sniffles. Made me think actually I need to a break from the negativity for a while. Even if it's just a couple of days. Thanks OP!

@musicposy - I find the Headspace app to be really good. It works wonders for me. 5 minutes. And it's free.

One thing that helps me is imagining that people who are experiencing terrible life events right now, loss of family from car accidents, for example probably don't give a hoot about this virus. Just puts it into perspective for me

@Lovetocycle thanks for the kind words! I needed this thread as much as anyone else and I'm quite detached from it all now just getting on with life as normal. I just feel that until it actually begins to spread (and there's still a chance it won't if containment can be done successfully) there is no need to consider changing our lives too dramatically!

I actually opened some parcels today that were from China, I'd chucked them into quarantine (my cupboard ), I binned the wrapping, sprayed the products with dettol and left then to dry and washed my hands well. It was a bit of a personal victory for me to feel I could open them!

Its worth noting that BBC News have it as rolling Breaking News on their website Until something else that is major news happens and it's relegated to third or fourth headline!

This is staggering:
"As of 09:00 GMT on Monday, the Department of Health said a total of 13,525 people had been tested in the UK, of which 13,485 were negative"

Again to reiterate, 13,485 had reason to believe they could have CV - either had been in contact with a CV patient or felt ill after travelling through affected places. And yet all of these people who were quite probably at risk were found not to have caught it. That actually blows my mind when you think how the headlines use that information badly!

As this thread is positive, I'd also like to point out how countries are stepping up to help poorer countries, makes me wonder if some rifts could be healed.

"UK, Germany and France offer Iran virus aid
The UK, Germany and France are offering Iran a €5 million package to help them fight coronavirus in the country.

In a statement, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) says the three nations - known as the E3 group - "express their full solidarity with all impacted by Covid-19 in Iran".

"We are offering Iran a comprehensive package of both material and financial support to combat the rapid spread of the disease," it continues.

"The material will be transported urgently by plane on 2 March and will include equipment for laboratory tests, as well as other equipment, including protective body suits and gloves.

"The E3 has also committed to providing urgent additional financial support close to €5 million to fight the Covid-19 epidemic affecting Iran, through the WHO or other UN agencies."

Also, headline today said the UK had hit 40 cases but I think this has been redacted and confirmed to be 35, so not as big a jump.

I use a meditation app called Insight Timer - it has loads of different meditations on, it has helped me with anxiety in general. I also saw a friend today who has just lost her mum. Lots of tears and sadness and helped put everything in perspective. We didn't mention Covid 19 at all.

However my husband potentially has to go to France next week for work which is sending me over the edge again.

@Lovetocycle yes as awful as it may seem, I agree. Right now some people are losing a loved one to cancer or having their village taken over by rebels, Coronavirus won't even be on their radar.

I also think how I panicked about Swine Flu through following BBC News and then calmed down and it came and went without me being particularly aware. That was before I discovered Mumsnet, seeing other people worrying would have made me worse, hence needing this safe place to focus on the more promising things.

What a great thread this is for a difficult subject. Thank you RapidRainbow.

Any other over 60 years old people here? What are you doing about the advice to avoid crowded places? ATM I'm not avoiding supermarket/shops locally but I don' think I'd go jaunting off to London or other places by public transport just for pleasure

That's me and my DH is 70 and I can honestly say we aren't worried and life is carrying on as normal. Of course we are being extra careful with hand washing but.... we are off on a holiday of a lifetime in a month and it hasn't crossed our minds not to go. It is to a country with a population of over 330million that has had just TWO cases and both recovered so we aren't worried. We are also off to London for a few days to see 2 of our 3 DCs... if they can manage to live and work there, I am sure we can go and see them with no worries.!

The only thing different we are doing is trying to track down anti bac wipes and will clean the seatbelt clasp and table when we get on our longhaul flight. And clean our hands as often as possible. (No anti bac anywhere in about 6 shops I went in this morning!)

Please everyone read this from a scientist...

For the non Science people out there...Wonder why everyone is emphasizing hand washing? Sounds banal, but soap really IS an amazing weapon that we all have in our homes. This is because coronavirus is an "enveloped" virus, which means that it has an outer lipid membrane layer.
Basically, it's surrounded by a fat layer. Washing your hands with soap and water has the ability to "dissolve" this greasy fatty layer and kill the virus. I'm told singing "Happy Birthday" twice is approximately how long we should all be scrubbing our hands with soap.'

I hope I'm positive enough on this thread.

Oh and yes I remember swine flu, and salmonella with eggs. Social Media has a lot to answer for as far as panicing the public

Any other over 60 years old people here? What are you doing about the advice to avoid crowded places? ATM I'm not avoiding supermarket/shops locally but I don' think I'd go jaunting off to London or other places by public transport just for pleasure

I’m nearer 70 than 60 and living life as usual. It’s occurred to me that this is the perfect time to book a holiday, there must be some excellent bargains around now.

That is interesting about the soap, and the composition of the virus Rousette.

I've been a bit obsessive about hand washing today. Debated bleaching all the kitchen surfaces but decided that it was probably overkill.

The stats upthread are interesting. All those thousands of people being tested and so few being positive. Maybe it isnt as 'easy' to catch as the media would have us believe?